Actress Jurnee Smollett has taken to Instagram with the hashtag #FreeJussie after the former Empire actor was sentenced to five months in jail for orchestrating a false hate crime.
In December, Jurors found Jussie Smollett guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him. Smollett was facing disorderly conduct charges for allegedly providing a false report to the police. Prosecutors charged him with each time he provided a false report.
Smollett was sentenced to five months in jail on Thursday, along with being ordered to pay a $120,000 restitution and a $25,000 fine to the City of Chicago and will serve 30 months of probation. The City of Chicago claims to have spent $130,000 investigating the attack; therefore the restitution nearly covers that.
Upon his sentencing, Smollett stood up and said: “I am innocent and I am not suicidal.”
Many of his supporters have expressed concern for the actor’s safety if he was to get a prison sentence, given the popularity of the case. Smollett has emphasised that if he is found dead while in prison, it would not be by his own hand.
Jurnee Smollett, Jussie’s younger sister, has asserted that she believes in her brother’s innocence in an Instagram post that she shared on Saturday. Her post also states that whether or not Jussie is innocent, the situation has little to do with whether he was incarcerated.
“Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White Americans. Jussie is innocent,” Jurnee Smollett’s post reads. “And… you don’t have to believe in his innocence to believe he should be free. #FreeJussie #StopLockingUpOurPeople”
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The picture that Jurnee Smollett posted contains the #FreeJussie hashtag and tags the Instagram account @CoalitionForJussie, which is an account posting in solidarity of the actor with the hashtag #JussieIsInnocent in their bio.
Previously, the City of Chicago sued Smollett over lost resources investigating his claims. Still, now that the restitution has to be paid to the city as part of Jussie Smollett’s sentence, the civil suit will be rendered moot.
